New Constitution New Status! Ito Hirobumi’s major contribution to Japanese modernization was the drafting of the Meiji Constitution. Adopting a constitutional government led Japan to be acknowledged as a diplomatic equal of western nations.
* Ito Hirobumi *
History Ito Hirobumi was born on October 14, 1841 in Suo province, Japan He was a Japanese statesman, prime minister, and writer of the Meiji Constitution. He contacted with Kido Takayoshi and Okubo Toshimichi and played minor role in the Meiji Restoration (Meiji Constitution). When Okubo was assassinated in 1878, Ito succeeded him as home minister. He persuaded the government to adopt a constitution and then traveled abroad to research constitutions. In 1889 the emperor promulgated the resultant document. He also negotiated an end to extraterritoriality with Britain and then other nations too. Frustrated with the ability of the political parties to impede passage of government programs in the Diet, in 1900 Ito founded Rikken Seiyukai party. These new changes cost him control of the genro, it means "elder statesmen," but made cooperation between high ranking bureaucrats and party politicians acceptable. In 1906, Ito became resident general in Korea and was assassinated in 1909 by a Korean nationalist, Ahn Jung Geun.
Meiji Constitution of 1889 Initially Ito Hirobumi was not an ardent advocate of adopting western views - he was once a man who had even participated in the burning of British legation in Edo.However, when he was sent abroad to England, and witnessed for himself the technological superiority of the West, he realized the necessity to modernize/westernize Japan. Ito Hirobumi like many other reformers regarded technology and military to be integral parts in establishing a strong nation. Still he did not forget to emphasize the importance of being diplomatically cautious while using a strong military to the country’s advantage. Hirobumi ardently believed that in order forto modernize it must adopt the western government structure. Although Ito Hirobumi contributed to numerous areas of the Meiji reform from fiscal matters to transportation to the disintegration of the feudal society, he is well remembered for his contribution to the Constitution of 1889, which was based on German model of government. Meiji Constitution was a major step towards a progressive political shift. It was to establish the Diet, a bicameral house made of the House of Representatives and House of Peers. Ito Hirobumi included many authoritarian elements in this new form of government (e.g. giving the emperor the power to command the military, direct foreign affairs, veto bills passed by the Diet), and he did so for a good reason. In the constitutional convention Ito Hirobumi said:
“If we wish to establish a constitution now, first we must look for a central axis for our nation, and establish what we should say that central axis is... In Europe... the existence of religion, and the employment of religion as a central axis, deeply embedded in the minds of the people, has ultimately unified the minds of the people. In our country, however, religion does not possess this kind of power... In our country the only thing that can be used as a central axis is the imperial house. Therefore, in the drafting of the constitution, we must focus our minds on using this point, raising up imperial rule, and striving that it not be restrained.”
Ito Hirobumi understood that the new western-model government had to integrate the emperor (as a symbolic figure of unification, the real power was still in the hands of the Meiji reformers) in order to gain the support of the people and make a smoother transition. Even though there were many restrictions on popular rights, the establishment of Japan's attempted parliamentary government also signified a new change in Japan’s relationship with western nations who as soon as the constitution took effect took steps to end the “unequal treaties”.
Resource Borthwick, Mark. Pacific century: the emergence of modern Pacific Asia. Boulder: Westview Press , 1992. Print. Clark, Robert L.. Japan and Korea . Paramus, N.J.: Globe Book Co., 1993. Print. "Hirobumi Ito." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 2 May. 2011. Web. "Hirobumi Ito." Image. Morris, J., Makers of Japan, 1906. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 2 May 2011. "Hirobumi Ito." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 2 May 2011. Paramore, K. "Religion as Practice, Politics as Mission." The Newsletter. Tokyo University Press, n.d. Web. 30 May 2011. Web. http://www.nndb.com/people/516/000097225/ http://it-hirobumi.co.tv/ http://bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu/rel265/15.shintoandthestate.html
Ito Hirobumi’s major contribution to Japanese modernization was the drafting of the Meiji Constitution. Adopting a constitutional government led Japan to be acknowledged as a diplomatic equal of western nations.
* Ito Hirobumi *
History
Ito Hirobumi was born on October 14, 1841 in Suo province, Japan He was a
Japanese statesman, prime minister, and writer of the Meiji Constitution. He contacted with Kido Takayoshi and Okubo Toshimichi and played minor role in the Meiji Restoration (Meiji Constitution). When Okubo was assassinated in 1878, Ito succeeded him as home minister. He persuaded the government to adopt a constitution and then traveled abroad to research constitutions. In 1889 the emperor promulgated the resultant document. He also negotiated an end to extraterritoriality with Britain and then other nations too. Frustrated with the ability of the political parties to impede passage of government programs in the Diet, in 1900 Ito founded Rikken Seiyukai party. These new changes cost him control of the genro, it means "elder statesmen," but made cooperation between high ranking bureaucrats and party politicians acceptable. In 1906, Ito became resident general in Korea and was assassinated in 1909 by a Korean nationalist, Ahn Jung Geun.
Meiji Constitution of 1889
“If we wish to establish a constitution now, first we must look for a central axis for our nation, and establish what we should say that central axis is... In Europe... the existence of religion, and the employment of religion as a central axis, deeply embedded in the minds of the people, has ultimately unified the minds of the people. In our country, however, religion does not possess this kind of power... In our country the only thing that can be used as a central axis is the imperial house. Therefore, in the drafting of the constitution, we must focus our minds on using this point, raising up imperial rule, and striving that it not be restrained.”
Ito Hirobumi understood that the new western-model government had to integrate the emperor (as a symbolic figure of unification, the real power was still in the hands of the Meiji reformers) in order to gain the support of the people and make a smoother transition. Even though there were many restrictions on popular rights, the establishment of Japan's attempted parliamentary government also signified a new change in Japan’s relationship with western nations who as soon as the constitution took effect took steps to end the “unequal treaties”.
Resource
Borthwick, Mark. Pacific century: the emergence of modern Pacific Asia. Boulder: Westview Press , 1992. Print.
Clark, Robert L.. Japan and Korea . Paramus, N.J.: Globe Book Co., 1993. Print.
"Hirobumi Ito." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 2 May. 2011. Web.
"Hirobumi Ito." Image. Morris, J., Makers of Japan, 1906. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 2 May 2011.
"Hirobumi Ito." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 2 May 2011.
Paramore, K. "Religion as Practice, Politics as Mission." The Newsletter. Tokyo University Press, n.d. Web. 30 May 2011. Web.
http://www.nndb.com/people/516/000097225/
http://it-hirobumi.co.tv/
http://bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu/rel265/15.shintoandthestate.html